So I'm The Ass?

When you have a blog you get people asking to guest post on your site. I don't allow that here.

When you have a podcast people ask to be interviewed on your show. I do that at Fail to Learn.

I understand their desire to be seen as an expert. Or grab a few minutes in front of you. Or their desire for backlinks to help with search engine placement. Those I understand.

What I don't appreciate are lame assistants who send a message that looks like it's the same message they sent to everyone else.

Here's an example:

I was looking through your show archives and thought that [person unknown to me as an expert] would be a great fit for your podcast (he’s been very well received on some similar podcasts recently; more details below). [Person] is a [fill in description of his awesomeness here].

He was recently on the the [podcast 1], [podcast 2], and there are some others coming up (links below).

Would you be interested in having [person you never heard of] on as a guest? If so, shoot me back a quick email and I can send you some potential topics and get you connected with him.

Thanks so much,
[Name]
Outreach Coordinator

Fail to Learn is a unique show. It's about failures and mistakes people have made and what they learned from them.

Yet, weekly I get requests from assistants saying they have someone who would be perfect for the show and then list the topics they could speak about.

It's obvious they didn't listen to the show. Nor did they make an effort to read the About page.

If I reply, I come across as an asshole.

Oh well.

I don't want the same show you find in other podcasts. I don't want guests to deliver the same pitch they gave on 17 other shows. And these people never took the time to understand that.

But it's a numbers game.

You pay someone a couple bucks to submit requests on hundreds of sites and podcasts. Maybe you do it yourself. A few will payoff and they get to lay claim as an "expert" for a few minutes there.

It's cold. As the recipient, I feel my time is wasted because you don't care enough to do some basic research before hitting send.

The message is all about the sender/seller. Not about the person they want to influence.

What's your goal?

You can skim the surface and alienate many people in the process of getting one or two. Are you in it for short-term gains.

It doesn't take much more effort to build relationships that pay off today, and over time.

It's just a little bit easier not to do it.